Healthy Waters – it’s more than just a goal for the Water Protection Division in EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region. It’s a means for achieving success.

The Healthy Waters strategy combines traditional tools with new ideas and collaborative approaches to help the division tackle the next generation of water protection issues.

The division manages and implements programs under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, working with government, non-profit, citizen and private sector partners to protect drinking water sources and improve the health of the region’s estuaries, rivers, streams and lakes. The division also enforces the laws governing water resources, either directly or in partnership with the states.

Visit our High Water Marks to learn some of the ways the Water Protection Division is meeting its mission.

The Anacostia Trash TMDL - the nation's first interstate trash TMDL - was developed to restore water quality by capturing or removing more than 600 tons of trash from the Anacostia watershed each year. The TMDL provided the impetus to implementation plans and permit requirements in Maryland and D.C. as well as new plastic bag restrictions. Read more information about the Mid-Atlantic's TMDL program.

Chesapeake Bay TMDL

The historic Chesapeake Bay nutrient and sediment TMDL was established to restore clean water in the Chesapeake Bay and the Region's streams. This largest-in-the-nation "pollution diet" is supported by Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) and a rigorous accountability system designed to accomplish the 2025 goal of pollution controls in place to achieve full resoration.

A Banner Year in Enforcement - over $210 million invested in pollution control equipment.

A banner year in enforcement in 2010 included the largest penalty for an Underground Injection Control case (CNX) and several nationally significant case conclusions in the Mid-Atlantic's NPDES Enforcement Program: Williamsport Sanitary Authority, JBS Souderton, Hovanian, Arch Coal and Consol, resulting in over $12.8 million in penalties, over 190 million pounds of pollutant reductions, and the investment of over $210 million in pollution control equipment.

Infrastructure Financing - Grants Center of Excellence

Our Grants "Center of Excellence" promoted best practices and shared information among project officers, sponsored quarterly Project Officer forums that drew participants from across the Region, established new measures of environmental benefits from grants, and created a new escalation process to fast-track stalled projects that was applauded by the Office of the Inspector General as a national model and which greatly increased the pace of granting awards.

The Lancaster County Healthy Waters project merged Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water Act activities to conduct on-farm assessments at over 100 locations, providing drinking water testing and health protection and a significant advancement in the Lancaster County and Pennsylvania agriculture compliance programs under the state's Chesapeake Bay TMDL Watershed Implementation Plan. Visit www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl for more information about what is being done to help clean up the Bay.

Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns

The Green Streets/Green Jobs/ Green Towns Initiativewas launched with two major events in Maryland and is incorporating a variety of sustainable design techniques in local communities in the Bay region in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Non-Point Source - Ranked #1 in the Nation

The Mid-Atlantic's Non-Point Source Program performance prevented more than 2.3 million pounds of nitrogen and 131,000 pounds of phosphorus from entering the Region's waters in 2010, restoring 31 water bodies and ranking first among EPA regions for NPS results.

Healthy Waters Blog

The Healthy Waters Blog - the first external blog of any EPA region - was launched to offer an interactive avenue for the public to learn about and provide perspective on key water protection issues. The blog has enjoyed a steady growth in readership and is included as one of EPA's Open Government Flagship Initiatives.

Working with partners in the Mid-Atlantic Region, the Water Protection Division is responsible for managing and implementing the laws that protect, preserve, and enhance water resources. The Division administers programs authorized by the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), laws written by Congress. Along with the administration of programs, the division works with the Mid-Atlantic States, local organizations, and interstate basin commissions, overseeing the delegation of programs and state implementation of delegated programs to achieve environmental and public health goals and standards.

------ Our Partners ------

These links leave EPA.gov to visit our partner sites for more information.